I choose to analyse my first name, Sydney. The reason I am named Sydney is because of my mother's grandfather, who was also named Sidney. Sidney was born in Germany and survived WWII, then went on to move to New York City then later Florida. In the Jewish religion, it is common to name someone after someone who has died, thus being the reason why I am named Sydney. The name Sydney, the female version, actually derives from France. It means "wide meadow". The meaning of my name doesn't overly define me, as I don't associate with being a wide meadow. But how I got my name, as I was named after someone, is important to me, as it ties into my faith and my past.
There are many times where I have identified with the idea explored in Anna Quindlen's essay, "there are two me's, the me who is the individual and the me who is a part of a family of four...". The idea of being myself but being a part of a greater whole was primarily found when I was at camp. At camp, it was my job to be an individual when I was a counselor for my campers. It was my responsibility to be in charge and focus on the good of my kids and make them their number one priority. That was me as an individual this summer, as I had to only be focused on them.
But the other side of me was found when the entire camp attended services together every Friday and Saturday. When camp joined together on those nights, you lost individuality, but not in a bad way. Sure, I was still in charge of my campers, but at services, things were different. You were not only to see people that you haven't the whole week, but you were able to join together in a spiritual experience. At services, you were able to be more than just yourself, something that I couldn't do as a counselor for all other days of the week. The notion of being yourself and a member of a greater picture is something I will take with me for the rest of my life.
There are many times where I have identified with the idea explored in Anna Quindlen's essay, "there are two me's, the me who is the individual and the me who is a part of a family of four...". The idea of being myself but being a part of a greater whole was primarily found when I was at camp. At camp, it was my job to be an individual when I was a counselor for my campers. It was my responsibility to be in charge and focus on the good of my kids and make them their number one priority. That was me as an individual this summer, as I had to only be focused on them.
But the other side of me was found when the entire camp attended services together every Friday and Saturday. When camp joined together on those nights, you lost individuality, but not in a bad way. Sure, I was still in charge of my campers, but at services, things were different. You were not only to see people that you haven't the whole week, but you were able to join together in a spiritual experience. At services, you were able to be more than just yourself, something that I couldn't do as a counselor for all other days of the week. The notion of being yourself and a member of a greater picture is something I will take with me for the rest of my life.
In many of the blogs I've read, people have depicted losing individuality as something that is negative. Your perspective is unique, as you wrote that losing individuality can also mean being part of something bigger than yourself. Sometimes when we focus too much on being different, we forget that we can rejoice in our shared human experience. Loved your take!
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